At the local ALP conference in 2007 or 8, the man was given a standing ovation.

Despite seeing a collapse in his first preference votes, he still got more than a quota all by himself. (ok, he had help from the Libs and swathes of government and ALP advertising, but he still did it.)

And he didn’t _lose_ the election completely. He didn’t win it either, but the power-at-all-costs model suggests the difference matters only to idealists.

Ridding us of Stanhope won’t solve all our problems. The Labor right will still have the running.